I don't remember when Halloween became fun again, but I think Ian had a lot to do with it. It helps that Ian was born just nine days prior so I have fond memories of snuggling with him and a pumpkin themed fleece blanket on the front porch and showing him off to our neighbors. We also have a new house in the last few years and we're settling in nicely. I really like everyone on our street and it's nice to see them and their kids in costume once a year before it gets too cold.

So that first year, Ian was dressed as a newborn for Halloween. And last year we set off with our barely walking little dinosaur monster. This year we weren't sure what he would be. But thanks for K-mart and their 50% off costumes we had an $8 bumble bee to parade around! (I hate K-mart but you can't pass up cheap costumes before Halloween. I just held my breath while I was in there.)

Rich wanted to take the wagon, but Ian wanted to pull the wagon and that was going to be a distraction. I changed that out for the backpack but when he saw it he wanted to get in it. So I hid it in a canvas bag and we walked. Well, after a few houses I carried all 32 pounds of him (plus at least 5 pounds of candy as we gathered loot) from house to house.

He was very suspicious in the beginning. But by the time we got to Grandma's house at the end of the street, he was catching on that if you look cute these people just give you candy. He was hooked. As we turned the corner he was pointing out houses with their lights on and not letting us pass one by!

We made our customary lap around the block and thought we were done. But as we walked up to our front steps, Ian wailed "No! I want more candy! That way!" So we emptied his bucket, took a five minute break and set off again (at least this time with the wagon) to gather more candy. He had a blast. We came home, sat on the couch and had our first lessons on Twizzlers versus Hershey bars versus KitKats. Much cow milk was consumed and we did finally convince him to eat some soup versus living on chocolate alone.

When we got home tonight he wanted to put his bee costume back on and parade around the house. It took a bit to convince him to take it off for bed.

So yeah, having a kid makes stuff like this fun again.